Max's Redemption: The Crystal Paradox
by Siranzan Prower - the Bard
Summary: Basically, this a Story of Max, as he and his Advanced Crystal Beasts, try to redeem themselves and to forget their past, meanwhile Darkness once again stirs at Duel Academy, Looks like the perfect opportunity. Rated K for safety, maybe T later on
1. Entrance to Duel Academy

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT, in any way, shape or form own Yu-Gi-Oh, or Yu-Gi-OH Gx or any of the cards features, I do however own a couple of the characters of my own creation however, so if you do want to borrow them, do ask.**

The day was like any other day for Me, Max but with just a slight difference, it was signing up day for Duel Academy and I was going there, all I had to do was win one duel against one opponent

"Piece of Cake"

I thought to myself

"Well at least I hope so"

I turned the corner of the street into the park; I felt the cool breeze on my face as I walked towards the Duel Academy Initiation Centre, when I arrived I stopped just outside to check my watch, it read 1:00pm

"Yes"

I thought

"Right on time for my entrance duel"

I smartened myself up, glancing in the mirrored glass of a building, I cut a rather strange looking figure with my bluish-colored hair but with my purple t-shirt and Black jeans on combined with my grayish eyes and blue glasses, then I pushed through the doors, inside there was a mix of excitement as duels rage ferociously in all 6 of the testing areas, duels were been one or lost and people came and went he check the slip of paper I had been give it read:

_Dear Mr. Maximus Samarius, _

_We are pleased to inform you that your request to join our ranks at Duel Academy has been accepted, now meet at your local Duel Academy Initiation Centre for your Entrance Duel which will take place and 1 30pm sharp, please selected your deck of 50 cards and await your opponent at Testing Arena 6_

_Yours sincerely Chancellor Sheppard_

The time was 1:15pm so I sat down in the waiting area to do a last minute check on my decks

"Which one should I pick?"

I thought

"Well, it's either one or the other, well I may as well flip a coin" I fished a coin out of my pocket and flipped, "Heads for One, Tales for the Other", it landed on Heads.

My mind made up I made his way to Testing Arena 6 to wait for his opponent to arrive. Just before my watch chimed 1:30pm my opponent arrived and he gasped it was none other than the infamous Vice-Chancellor Vellian Crowler, who was said to be extremely ruthless with his opponents and spoke and marked very lowly of anyone that beat him.

"Well then"

He said in a tone of deep patronization

"Lets get this duel over with or do you just want to go home now so that I don't have to waste my time beating you"

"Not a chance, I never give up"

I said with a lot more bravado then I meant to

"**Lets Duel**"

Max [4000 LP]

Crowler [4000 LP]

"I'll let you go first"

Crowler said

"Since I'm feeling kind"

I glanced at the cards in my hand

"Perfect"

I thought, already I was starting to formulate a plan in my head

"Ok, First, I play the Field Spell Card **Advanced Dark**, then I'll summon my Advanced Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise (700/2100), in Defense Mode, then; I'll throw down 1 cards face-down, then I End my Turn."

The feral, green-turtle appeared onto my field, hiding in his shell whilst a silhouette of a face-don appeared behind him.

"Ok then now its my move, and I think it's time to teach you how a professional duels, I'll start off by playing 2 cards face-down, then I'll activate a spell card known as **Heavy Storm**, this lets me destroy all spell and trap cards on the field"

The wind inside began to pick up as the huge holographic storm whipped through the arena, it destroyed both of Crowler's spell and trap cards, but when it got to mine.

"Nice try, but I have a trick up my sleeve, my **Fake Trap** card, this card allows me to send it to the graveyard, to protect all of my other cards" I said, sliding the card into my graveyard slot

"Hmm, not bad, but unfortunately for you my 2 face-down cards were cards known as **Statute of the Wicked**, and when they are destroyed I gain a Wicked Token (0/0), then I'll sacrifice both of my Wicked Tokens, in order to summon, my Ancient Gear Golem (3000/3000) in attack mode, now I'll show a pro duels, Ancient Gear Golem, make some scrap out of that Tortoise with your Mechanised Mêlée"

The aged machines gears creaked as it stood up and raised its fist, and then it leapt towards my Emerald Turtle

"Good Move, but I've got one better, I Activate my Advanced Dark field spells special ability , this allows me to reduce the battle damage I take when my monsters battle to 0 by send 1 Advanced Crystal Beast from my deck to my graveyard, and I select Advanced Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle"

The Golems fist flew towards my Emerald Tortoise, shattering it, the pieces the reformed in the row behind it.

"Now it's my move, I draw, and summon my Advanced Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat (1400/500), in attack mode, now I activate its special effect, by halving its attack, it can attack you directly."

The Amethyst Cat sneaked past the Ancient Gear Golem before pouncing on Crowler, striking crower with its claws. [4000 LP] – [3300 LP]

"Now I play a card face-down and I End my turn"

"Ok then rookie, now it's my turn, now I draw and summon my Ancient Gear (300/200), in Attack Mode, now My Ancient Gear Golem will attack your Amethyst Cat, then my Ancient Gear will attack you directly."

"Now I activate my Advanced Dark field spells special ability once again, and I select Advanced Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth so now I take no damage"

"Hmm. An interesting effect, now I End my turn"

"Great now it's my turn, I draw and summon Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (1900/1300), and now I'll activate his special effect, this allows me to place Advanced Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle in my Spell and Trap Zone, then I play the Spell card Known as **Crystal Blessing**, this allows me to take Amber Mammoth and Ruby Carbuncle from my graveyard, and place them in my Spell and Traps, then Ruby Carbuncle's effect activates, activate _Ruby Rampage_, This allows me to special summon it to the field (500/500), along with any other of my crystallized Advanced Crystal Beasts, so I select Emerald Tortoise (700/2100), Amethyst Cat (1400/500), Amber Mammoth (1800/1700), and last but not least Cobalt Eagle(1500/900) now I End my turn."

"Nice try Rookie, but I'm afraid I have won, it was nice of you to try, now I play the Spell Card **Limiter Removal**, doubling the attack of all of my machine monsters, but I have to sacrifice one to activate this card, so I sacrifice my Ancient Gear, now the attack of my Ancient Gear Golem is doubled, (3000/3000) – (6000/3000) Now Ancient Gear Golem, attack his weakest monster, Mechanised Mêlée"

"Sorry Crowler, but I win, because I play the effect of my Advanced Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth", this redirects your Ancient Gear Golem's attack from Ruby Carbuncle to him, now I play the Trap Card, **Amber Crystal Circle**, this gives Amber Mammoth the combined attack of all of my face-up Advanced Crystal Beast's, (1800/1700) – (6200/1700), that repels your Golems attack, and deals you 200 damage [3300 LP] – [3150 LP]. Now Limiter Removal forces your Ancient Gear Golem to Self-Destruct, leaving you with no defense, and now that you can't do anything but end you're turn, its my move, and now all of my Advanced Crystal Beasts will attack you directly, winning me this Duel" [3300 LP] – [0 LP]

The Golem raised it's fist and fired, the attack ricocheted of Amber Mammoth's as he counter-attacked, using his tusks to smash the Golem to pieces

"Damn brat, did you honestly think you could beat me that easily, Now I…, what you beat me how is this possible I was using my own deck that I made myself personally, how is this even possible.

I watched Crowler from the other side of the arena; the person looked like he was having a mental breakdown

A huge cheer came from the crowd watching, I hadn't noticed how many people there was watching my duel, even a couple of Obelisk Blues where impressed. And clapping

"Yes, I'm going to duel academy I can't wait" was the last thought that ran through my head as I went to bed that evening, dreaming of the future duels.

((Any Comments?, Good or Bad do say, and grammar or spelling errors do say?))

((P.S these are MY version's of the Advanced Crystal Beasts, so they all have slightly more attack and defense than normal, Why?, you may ask, we'll you'll have to wait until the end to find out.))


	2. Arriving, Now Duel!

**1 week later...**

Me and the other 20 or so new students watch Duel Academy Island draw closer and closer in the distance, from the windows of the helicopter we could see all of it mapped out below us as we came into land, the atmosphere in the helicopter when we landed was ecstatic, everyone was so excited, as for many of us this would be our first time in any form of dueling school, apart from the Obelisk's who had attended a dueling prep school. The first thing the staff did when we had landed was to gather us into 3 different groups, then we all went to receive are uniforms, amazingly I had managed to earn myself I high enough grade to get myself into Ra Yellow, the middle dorm I collected my yellow uniform and academy-issue duel disk and then I went and got changed.

The uniform fitted perfectly, I looked at myself in the mirror,

"Strange, I never really thought that yellow was my color" I said aloud to myself before I left the changing rooms.

After I had got my bag containing my things and put it in my room, being a typical me I decided I would go check out the other dorms, The Obelisk Dorm, which was situated the closest to the main part of Duel Academy, looked very grand on the outside, but I didn't really feel like going inside because I felt that I may look slightly out of place so I decided to check out the Slifer Dorms ,on the way down to the Slifer Red Dorms, I was confronted with 2 Slifer's who seemed to be quite lost, they looked like were brother and sister, the boy, One of them, the boy, had black, windswept hair with blue eyes and was a head smaller than his sister, who was almost my height and had green eyes, but her hair was tied back and curly t the ends. Both had been hopelessly wondering around until I had bumped into them and after that and some crude directions given by a fellow Ra, we set off toward the cliff's, on the way there, they introduced themselves, they were called Zackory and Rebecca, both new student's like myslef and both rather young, both no-older than 13, unfortunatly for us. things got a little complicated, as we approached the forests that separated the Slifer Dormitories from the rest of the school, we came across a duel, which didn't seem to be going well, an Obelisk, with a pair of cronies, was dueling a Slifer, and things really weren't going this Slifer's way,

Obelisk [4000 LP]

Slifer [1100 LP]

"Now you Slifer Slacker, prepare to feel the wrath of my Chthonian Solider (1300/1200) in attack mode, now attack him directly with Sword of Wrath"

Obelisk [4000 LP]

Slifer [1100 LP] - [0 LP]

As the holograms and smoke disappeared, the Obelisk could be seen, he was standing over the Slifer and was searching through his deck, and then he selected on of them and threw the rest to the ground

"Thanks for the card, loser, now whose next, let me see, ahh... I know how's about you Ra, I fell like a challenge, and you'll supply me with the perfect victory"

"Fine then, just one condition, if I win, you tell us the way to the Slifer Red Dorms now are you ready,"

Ok then, you've got a deal, _Game On_"

Max [4000 LP]

Obelisk [4000 LP]

"I'll kick things off, with my Field Spell, **Advanced Dark**, now come on out, Advanced Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat (1400/500), in attack mode, then I'll equip her with the spell card **Crystal Release**, this equip spell gives her 800 attack points, (1300/500) - (2200/500), then I'll throw down a face-down, now show me what you got, Blue Boy" The fierce looking, but playful spirited, purple colored cat appeared on my side of the field, behind it was the silluete of a face-down card.

"OK then I will, my draw and play Chthonian Solider 1200/1400, in attack mode, then I'll throw down a face-down as well and I end my turn." The armored soldier appeared on his side of the field along with the silhouette of a face-down card.

"That's all?, well I was hoping for something more exciting, I draw and now I play the spell card **Advanced Crystal Tree**, but you can find out what that does later, Now I summon Advanced Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger (1700/1100), in attack mode, now Topaz, take out his Chthonian Solider, oh and did I mention his effect, it activates when he attacks and boosts his attack points by 400", (1700/1100) - (2100/1100),

**Boom**, the Chthonian Solider exploded into particles of light, Obelisk [4000 LP] – [3100 LP] then his sword momentarily reformed behind me and slashed me across the back, I doubled over in pain.

"I guess you forgot my Chthonian Soldier's special ability, you take the same damage as I do" Max [4000 LP] - [3100 LP]

"That's ok with me because now I activate my Amethyst Cat's special effect, by halving her attack points, she can take a swipe at you directly (2200/500) - (1100/500), now go get him girl"

The vicious looking cat jumped across the field and slammed into the Obelisk, clawing at his face, the Obelisk unshielded his face to reveal 3 long scratch marks, Obelisk [3100 LP] – [2000 LP]

"Hey Ammy, I told you to play nice!"

"Sorry" the cat purred "Got a little to carried away"

"That's o-kay?, hang on a second did you just speak to me?"

"Hey Dork, stop talking to you're cards and start dueling, I'm getting bored over here"

"Sorry, just got a little too carried away, now I'll play a card face-down, and I end my turn."

"Good, because that was you're last turn, because now I play my trap card **Call of the Haunted**, allowing me to resurrect my Chthonian Soldier, then I play the Spell card **Inferno Reckless Summon**, this allows us both to summon as many copies of 1 monster that we have on the field, and I choose Chthonian Soldier, this allows me to summon to more copies from my deck or hand, now come on out Chthonian Soldier's, next I play a card face-down and then I'll sacrifice one of my soldiers in order to summon this, my Chthonian Emperor Dragon (2400/1500), in attack mode, then I'll also activate the spell card **Chthonian Alliance**, and I equip it to my Left Chthonian Soldier, this equip spell grants him 800 attack points for every monster with the same name as him on the field and I count 2, that means he gains 1600 attack points, (1200/1400) - (3000/1400), you're finished now Ra, Chthonian Solider attack him Topaz Tiger"

Boom, the massive Soldier swung his sword in an arc, cutting Topaz in half, "Sorry Topaz, I should have been more careful" I thought to myself, Max [3100 LP] – [2200 LP]

"My turns not done yet Ra, now Chthonian Emperor Dragon attack his Amethyst Cat"

Boom, a second explosion, this time fire engulfed the cat as she cried out in pain Max [2200 LP] – [1900 LP]

"My turns done Ra, and next turn shall be you're best, so good luck, not that you need it"

Fine then, now thanks to my Advanced Crystal Beasts effects, they come right on back as crystals, and that means the my **Advanced Crystal Tree** grows 2 crystal fruit, now when a monster equipped with **Crystal Release** is destroyed in battle, the card allows me to place another monster in my Spell and Trap Zone as a Crystal and I choose, my Emerald Turtle, plus my Advanced Crystal Tree grows another fruit, now I activate my **Advanced Crystal Tree** effect, by sending it to the grave, I can place a crystal beasts in my Spell and Trap Zone for each fruit on the tree and I count 3, and now come on out, Advanced Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle and Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, now Ruby's effect activates, special summoning her and all her pals fro the spell trap zone and onto the field all in attack mode, so now come on out my Advanced Crystal Beasts Sapphire Pegasus (1900/1300), Emerald Tortoise (700/2100), Topaz Tiger (1700/1100), Amethyst Cat (1400/500) and last but not least Ruby Carbuncle (500/500), now Sapphire Pegasus's effect activates, letting me put Advanced Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle in my Spell and Trap Zone, now I play that face-down card that I set so long ago, It's called **Cut Jewel**, now first I send my Advanced Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle to the Graveyard, then this card allows me to halve one of you're monsters attack points, and I choose, Chthonian Emperor Dragon, (2400/1500) - (1200/1500), now Amethyst Cat, attack his weakened Chthonian Emperor Dragon""

The massive dragon roared as its power grew weak from the effects of the trap, then Ammy was all over him, she bowled him over and sent him falling straight back onto the Obelisk, Obelisk [2000LP] – [1900 LP].

"Now, Sapphire Pegasus, attack the weaker Chthonian Solider"

The Pegasus dived straight into the weaker of the two soldiers, sending him shattering into pieces with a strike of his horn. Obelisk [1950 LP] - [1150 LP]

"Did you forget his effect, you take the same damage I take" Max [1900 LP] – [1100 LP]

"But let's not now forget that your other Soldier gets weaker, (2800/1400) - (2000/1400), Now Topaz, Its time for a little payback, take out his Chthonian Solider"

"How's he going to do that, he has less attack points than my monster"

"True, but you've forgotten his special ability, it increases his attack points by 400, (1700/1100) – [2100/1100], which is just enough to take down you're last Soldier and you're last defense, Now attack Topaz"

Topaz leapt onto the large Chthonian Soldier and clawed at his chest, "Now that's what I call payback" he roared, before the Soldier Burst in to Light, Obelisk [1150 LP] – [1050 LP]

"You still take the same amount of damage" Max [1100 LP] – [1000 LP]

"Now I think its time we End this Duel, Emerald Tortoise, Ruby Carbuncle, Attack him directly and end this duel once and for all, Go! _Dark Ruby Refraction_ and _Dark Emerald Shell-Shock_"

Obelisk [1050 LP] – [zero LP] Max Wins.

As the holograms of my beasts faded, I could have sworn that Ruby had winked at me before fading away to join her pals in my deck.

"Are you going to tell us the way there or not?"

I demanded

"I beat you fair and square now tell us where is it"

"Thata way" he said pointing towards the cliff edges and then he ran off

As we round past a screen of bushes and trees the Slifer Dorm came into view, it looked like quite a cosy place, not as pretty as the Ra dorm but a lot more colorful, I bid Zack and John Farewell and I went back to my Dorm, the Silfer Dorm, despite the fact it was on the edge of a cliff, looked very picturesque, especially with the sunset in the background, "I wonder, what would have happened If I had lost?" I said allowed to myself, "Would Life in Slifer be so bad, I mean although everyone looks down on them, I don't mind that, the view more thatn makes up for that", I often liked to air comments like that alound, it helps me think, but that's normally because I'm I climbed into bed I closed my eyes and awaited the coming dawn, and the supposedly dreaded first day of lessons.

((Chapter 2 finished, Chapter 3 underway, is it any good?, please do review I need feedback **:)** ))


	3. A Break from Lessons

The Next Day:

I woke up bright and early, then I went had my breakfast, I don't, eat much, I never had, then I got dressed, strapped on my duel disk and went outside for a quick walk before lessons started, the grounds where all quite and peaceful, then I made my way towards, the main school building, I checked my timetable, I had 2, 45 minute lessons, then a break, then 1, 90 minute lesson, then lunch and then the day was over, according to the timetable my first lesson was Dueling Tactics, with none other than Chancellor Sheppard himself, then I had Dueling Philosophy with **_Doctor_ **Crowler, and it was during my first lesson that I really began to understand why no one liked the Obelisks, because 95% of the were just plain mean to the Slifer's and no one but a select few seemed to openly care about them.

"Well then" I thought "I guess I'll have to change that."

As the Lessons came and went after break I had a taste of what really being bored was like when I had a double period of Dueling Statistics, most of them where questions on paper and contained mostly questions about traps or spells and how to negate them or what monster effect are the best, etc.

When lessons ended I, like most sensible students (which aren't that many I can tell you, at least so far) would leave the main, hustle and bustle of the school and would go out into the forest to seek peace and calm, but unfortunately, time just wouldn't let me have that peace.

"Oi, you. You're that kid who beat me yesterday, well guess what, I want a re-match, you got lucky last time, but his time I'm ready." It was that Obelisk kid from yesterday who had been beating all those Slifer's and taking their cards. He strode up to me and grabbed me roughly by the collar "Oi Ra, I'm talking' to you, I want a re-match" he yelled in my face before dropping me back on my feet, "Fine then" I replied back calmly, dusting off my uniform "you want to be crushed, I'll crush you, so **Lets Duel**"

I glanced at the cards in my hand, "First, I'll play a Field Spell Card that should seem familiar to you, **Advanced Dark**, now I play my Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus , then thanks to his effect, I can place my Amber Mammoth in my Spell and Trap zone, then I'll place a card face-down and end my turn."

The Feral Winged Leader of the Advanced Crystal beasts appeared, followed by a silhouette of a face-down, the look in his eyes told me immediatly that he dis-liked this Obelisk.

"That's all, then again, I wasn't expecting much especially after our last duel, but now it's my move, I activate the special ability of my Dark Grepher, it allows me to discard 1 level 5 or higher monster like my Dark Horus, then I can special summon him directly to the field, now that that's done I'll come on out, Dark Grepher (1700/1600), in attack mode, and because it was a special summon, I can tribute him in order to summon this guy, my Dark General Freed (2300/1700), in attack mode, now attack his Pegasus, _Sword of the Dark General_"

The darker version of General Freed drew his dark sword and advanced on the Pegasus, who brayed loudly before exploding into pixels, which then reformed into my spell and trap zone "Now I play my trap, **Crystal Pair**, whenever a Crystal Beast on my field is destroyed in battle, I can place another in my Spell and Trap zone, like this one, Topaz Tiger, and in return, I take no damage, but nice try."

"Fine then, I'll play a face-down and end my turn"

"Ok then, I draw, and now I play the spell card **Double Summon**, now once per turn, I can make an additional normal summon, but first now I summon, Advanced Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat (1300/500), in attack mode, and I'll also summon, Advanced Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise ,(700/2100) in defense mode, now I activate Amethyst Cat's special ability, which allows me to cut her attack points in half, (1300/500) – (650/500), and then I can let her attack you directly, now Ammy, I think it's time for your reunion, say hello to your old friend"

The purple colored cat pounced on the Obelisk once again, "Hello again my little friend" she purred clawing him across the face just like in our last duel, leaving the familiar claw marks before returning back to my side. Obelisk [4000 LP] - [3350 LP]

"Now I'll activate the effect of Emerald Tortoise, now if one of my monsters attacked this turn, I can turn it to defense mode, then I'll End my turn"

"Grrrr, damn cat, anyhow I draw, and now I play the special ability of my Dark General Freed, instead of drawing a card this turn, I can add 1 level 4 Dark monster to my hand, and I choose my Armageddon Knight (1400/1200), now I'll summon him to the field in attack mode, then I'll play his effect, sending my Chthonian Solider from my Deck to my Graveyard, now Armageddon Knight, attack him Amethyst Cat and Dark General Freed, attack his Emerald Tortoise"

Boom!, Boom! The double explosion tore both of my Advanced Crystal Beasts apart, as their pixels reformed into my Spell and Trap Zone, giving me 5 Crystals.

"Then I End my turn, nice Jewelry, but do they actually do anything?"

"Well you're about to find out, now I draw, and now I play the Spell Card known as **Crystal Abundance**, now by sending all 4 of my remaining crystals to the Graveyard, I can special summon as many of them as possible from my graveyard equal to the number of monsters you have, that makes 3, now come on out, Advanced Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger (1700/1100), Advanced Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth (1800/1700),and Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (1900/1300), now Pegasus's effect activates, letting me place Ruby Carbuncle in my Spell and Trap Zone, now I play the **Rare Value** spell card, this lets me send Ruby to the Graveyard in order to draw 2 cards, now I'll equip Topaz with **Crystal Release,** this gives him 800 attack points, (1700/1100) - (2500/1100), which gives him just enough to take down Freed, now Topaz, attack his Dark General Freed, and now his effect activates, giving him 400 extra attack points, (2500/1100) - (2900/1100), now destroy Dark General Freed, _Dark Topaz Tiger Claw_"

The now massive tiger roared as he butted the Dark General in the stomach, before clawing at his face and he burst into pixels. Obelisk [3300 LP] – [2700 LP]

"Now Sapphire Pegasus, attack his Dark Grepher, _Sapphire Dark Horn_, and Amber Mammoth attack his Armageddon Knight, _Amber Dark Stomp_"

Both Crystal Beasts leapt onto their targets destroying them both effortlessly and bursting them into pixels. Obelisk [2700 LP] - [2200LP]

"and on that bombshell, I end my turn now I end my turn"

"Good now its my time to end this duel, now I play the spell card **Pot of Greed**, this allows me to draw 2 cards, now I play my own copy of **Double Summon**, now I'll summon my Chthonian Solider (1200/1400), and now I'll equip him with the spell card Phalanx Pike, giving him an extra 900 attack points, (1200/1400) - (2100/1400) but now I'll sacrifice him and every card in my hand in order to summon my favorite card, Infernal Incinerator (2800/1800), now Infernal Incinerator's attack increases by 200 for every monster you have, that's an extra 600 attack points, (2800/1800) - (3400/1800), now Infernal Incinerator, attack his Amber Mammoth, _Firestorm Blast_"

The massive beast opened its mouth forming a white-hot fireball before firing it straight at Amber, destroying him, even as his pixels reformed into a crystal, the flames then flew straight at me.

"Almost, I thought you might actually inflict some damage, but then again, close isn't exact, because now I can send my Advanced Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle to the Graveyard, and all the damage goes to Zero."

"Grr, Those pieces of Jewelry are starting to get on my nerves I end my turn"

"Ok then, My draw, and I activate a little card I call **Pot of Avarice**, now I pick 5 monsters from my Graveyard, and they all go back to my deck, so I pick my Advanced crystal Beast's Ruby Carbuncle, Cobalt Eagle, Amethyst Cat, Emerald Turtle and Amber Mammoth, and then I draw 2 new cards, and next up is another Equip Spell card, **United We Stand**, and I'll Equip it onto Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, this gives him 800 points for each monster on the field, and just in-case that math isn't you're thing, that's an extra 1600 points, (1900/1300) - (3500/1300)"

The Pegasus grew bigger as the equip spell powered him up.

"B ..B..But that makes him stronger than …"

"Yes that's right, Stronger than Infernal Incinerator, Now attack Sapphire Pegasus, take down his Infernal Incinerator with _Unified Crystal Attack_"

The Huge Pegasus Charged at the Infernal Incinerator, tossing him into the air with his horn before letting him crash into the ground, shattering into pixels of light. Obelisk [2200] – [2100]

"Hey Topaz, finish him off with _Dark Tiger Claw_"

The Armored Tiger Leapt at the Obelisk Student, crushing him under his claws, Obelisk [2100] – [0] Max Wins

"That's impossible! I can't lose again, not again, not to those pathetic accessories"

I left the Obelisk where he was, and began walking back toward the school, a glance a my watch had already told me that I was late, so a few more minutes because I didn't feel like running wasn't going to hurt, the walk helped me cool off, I needed a break, after 1 day here I had already had 2 duels, and they were really starting to wear me out.

Just when I thought that things couldn't get worse, the Tannoy went off, echoing throught the empty corridors, '_Maximus Samarius, Maximus Samarius, please report to Chancellor Sheppard's officee **Immediately**_', I cringed,

"What have I done now?"


	4. A Great Loss, Conspiracy Grows

As I walked through the corridors, I wondered what I had done, I mean come on, all I did was beat a couple of obelisk's, it's not like no-one has ever done that before, but then again, they probably went and complained to Crowler, who, if the rumors are correct, is very, very untrustworthy of anyone who isn't in Obelisk blue, "stuck-up git!" I muttered to myself as I turned the corner and climbed the stairs to the Chancellor's Office, I composed my self and moved my hand to knock, then I heard some muffled talking coming from within, it was Crowler.

"You can't just give him that card, do you realize what a mistake it was even letting him come here, now if we even try to drop him down a class,Pegasus is going to pull out", Pegasus!, there was a name a name I recognized,

"Now Crowler, there's no need to be so prejudiced, he may be the only who can use this card since Jesse Anderson, and we lost track of him years ago"

"I don't care, I've already had some complaints about him, he's a trouble maker, he may not be a Slifer, but he duel's like one and that's all the justification I need to not give it to him"

"Crowler, your over-stepping your boundary's here, if Kaiba finds out he won't be happy, and neither will I, now stop this nonsense"

"Not very likely Sheppard, if he carries on at this rate, there won't be anything we can do, it's a week until the Progress Exams, if he passes them, then maybe, we'll let him have his little Dragon" my eyebrows shot up, "Dragon, is he talking about what I think he's talking about", I thought, trying t control my excitement.

"Fine then, we're in agreement then"

I could here the clanking of Crowler's shoes on the metal floor, then I realized that I was still by the door, so I back-tracked up the corridor a few meters as I heard the door open, then I began walking down the corridor, I heard the door open and Crowler stepped out, he looked at me, his face clearly showing his distaste,

"You're Late" he said abruptly, he gestured into the office, as I walked past he whispered, "I'll talk to you Later!" before arrogantly walking away, I walked into the office, it was rather large with the Chancellor seated behind his desk, leaning on his desk, deep in thought until he sat up suddenly as I entered the room.

"Oh Max, there you are, I've been waiting" he got up and walked round to the other side of the table, "now please sit down", I took the offered set, something told me that I wasn't here for a nice little chat.

"Now Max how have you been finding your stay so far?" he asked politely, something wasn't right here, a little voice in the back of my head was saying.

"Well, I guess it's been good, lesson are O.K, the teachers are good, some of them anyway", what else was I meant to say, I'd only been here 2 days.

"Oh, that's good" he said, he seemed to have his mind on other things, he went back round the desk, and sat down his chair again, "Would you mind if I looked at your deck?" it was not a request, so grudgingly, I placed it on the deck, face-down, I didn't like other people pouring over my cards, it was a matter of pride more than anything else, that and the fact that I didn't want anything happening to them, they were rather precious to me. He picked it up, and sat back down again, and swung his chair around so I couldn't see what he was doing, although the curious part of me, craned to have a look, the polite side said no. I felt kind of different without having my deck with me, it was a kind of nakedness, almost like walking around without an arm or a leg, difficult.

After about 5 minutes, Sheppard turned back round, he looked at Max, who had an odd look in his eye, it was almost longing, he opened is mouth to speak, max wasn't going to like this at all, "Max, I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate your deck", he said, saying each word very slowly so that he understood what he was saying, it was Max's reaction, however, that he was totally unprepared for, both fists hit his desk as he stood up and his eyes clearly showed his anger, and then, just for a second, so fast it could have been a trick of the light but his eyes turned a dark shade of red.

"_WHAT!_ what do you mean your 'confiscating' my deck, what have I done", Max gulped in oxygen, trying to control his anger, if it wasn't for the fact that Sheppard was the chancellor of this academy, not just some low-life student, he would have got a smack for even mentioning the words 'confiscation' and 'deck' in the same sentence. He calmed himself right down, burying his anger in a very large hole, his eyes returned to their normal colour as his anger left him, "Excuse my outburst chancellor but I don't think you understand my attachment to that deck" he said politely, although inside he was seething with conflicting emotions.

"I'm perfectly aware of your attachment to your deck Max, I've also been informed as to where you got it from, and besides it's only for research purposes, it's not like we're going to be doing anything permanent to them, we just have some experts who would like to examine them" Sheppard tone was strictly neutral, his was withholding something however

"When will I get it back" Max asked, worry starting to cut through the anger.

"Oh in a couple of days, a week at the most, they just want to runs some tests"

"Well … if it's just for a couple of days, .. then I guess it's ok"

"Oh, good, now then, I think you need to get back to class, tell Professor Satyr that you were seeing me" Sheppard turned back to his desk and picked up the phone as Max left the room, he dialed a number and the person on the end of the line answered.

"_Hello, Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus speaking_"

"Pegasus, it's Sheppard, I have the Deck you requested"

"_Oh that's good, how did May-Boy take it_"

"Badly I'm afraid, but he seemed O.K when he left"

"_Keep an eye on him Sheppard, the last thing any of us need's is him going Missing or worse_"

"Ok I'll assign someone to keep tabs on him, are you sure he's the one were looking for"

"_Sheppard, I've been positive since the moment I first saw him and gave him that Deck_,_ toodles, Click … __…__…"_

"Toodles?" Sheppard said to himself as he sat back down and swiveled his chair around so he could look out at his beloved academy, if things carried on going at this rate, peace would be a thing of the past.

Meanwhile…

Zack felt numb, he had had that deck for years, and now he had just lost it, "It's just not fair" his head was saying, then he sighed, there was no point in being such a baby, he would just have to make a new one, a temporary one at least, until he could get his beasts back.

His dorm room seemed to be more empty as he rummaged through his bag until he found his spare deck, he pulled it out and began placing the cards, one by one, face-up on the table, it had been along time since he'd used this deck, and it was time he got to know it again.

((I think I just broke one of the biggest rules in write a Gx fanfic, which involoves having a duel in every 'episode' so don't be suprsed if I end up dead!))


	5. A Hosptial Visit, The Tournament Arrives

As the hour's turned into day's and the day's turned into two, three, four, five, Max gave up any hope of ever getting his deck, back, he had tried to see Sheppard on 4 different occasions, and on each occasion he had be turned away on the flimsy excuse that he wasn't in, he felt annoyed, he had being spending a lot of time alone, on long walks in the forest, as he felt himself getting more and more angry, "WHY!" he almost screamed, plunging his fist into a tree, "Why isn't that Imbecile going to let me have my Deck back!", then he unleashed all of his pent up anger on the tree, he mercilessly smashed his fists into it until there was a SNAP!, and pain rushed straight up his arms, and a huge spiked of adrenaline kicked in, he wiggled his fingers on his left hand, a grimaced at the pain coming from his index finger, "Must have broken it" he muttered to himself, but he felt a lot better, he had managed to calm himself down, 'however' a small voice in the back of his head said 'I wouldn't recommend doing it every time' as he began moving in the general direction of the Hospital Wing.

"I wonder what she'll say now?" he had said aloud as he walked down the corridor, his finger wrapped in a tissue, as he buzzed the door to the infirmary, it opened revealing the row upon row of clean, white beds, he felt a bit light headed, "Miss Fontaine?, Hello? Are you in here?" he asked loudly, skirting the edge of the beds and heading towards her office at the back, he stopped suddenly, he could hear something growling, it sounded like it was coming from the back of his mind, almost like a kind of niggling injury, He shook his head, "I must be hearing things" he thought as Miss Fontaine walked out off her office, she put her hands on her hips and sighed, "Max, what am I going to do with you?" she asked, and Max cringed, this was going to hurt.

He sat on one of the beds as Ms. Fontaine bandaged his finger, she had mothered him mercilessly since he had come in about 2 days ago after he had received a very nasty dose of food poisoning, evidently someone didn't like him very much, and ended up putting soap powder in his soup, but at that point it time he was so depressed that he didn't care, but Ms. Fontaine had nursed him back to health, and put him on a strict regime of doing nothing strenuous. After she had finished he lay back, shut his eyes and relaxed as he recalled what had happened in the past few minutes, "Thing here are just getting weirder and weirder" he thought to himself "First my monster start talking to me" he thought, thinking back to his Duel against that Obelisk guy, "then I get my Deck confiscated, and now I'm hear things, maybe I am starting to lose it" he thought, then pushed it aside, and got up, ruffed up his hair, re-strapped his duel-disk back on his arm and walked out.

---------- Later On ----------

Lessons continued as normal, that was until a surprise announcement was made, it turned out that Chancellor Sheppard had been taken ill so he had been taken off the island and take to back to Domino to receive treatment, and that until further notice, _Crowler_ of all people had been promoted to replace him, there was groans from practically everyone in the room at that notice, however the voice on the tannoy continued:

"_and furthermore a new tournament is being held at the Card Shop tonight anyone who __**Thinks**__ that they are good enough can volunteer to join, prizes will be announced at the opening ceremony tonight at 7:00 o'clock, It will be a Pair Tournament, so make sure that you __**and**__ your partner have registered, Thank You_"

At this new revelation, the atmosphere became much more excited and light-hearted, if there's one thing that Duel Academy was fabled and respected for, was its in-school tournament, they were fun, action-packed, and you always got something out of it, be it some new cards, or handy-advice, but not everyone attended, normally only the lower-end students went, whilst the Obelisk's organised their **own** tournaments, rumours of participant using the ante rule, and several other weird things, but Crowler mostly ignored the protests coming from the other dorm's and the teacher's, passing them off as 'fictional' attempts at trying to soil the 'good' name of Obelisk Blue.

---------- That Evening ----------

The Ra Meal Hall was abuzz with conversation, most of it related to Duelling, although some of it was devoted to more boring subject, as the hall began to empty, my partner for the tournament, Alex arrived, he was in the dorm room directly opposite me, so we saw each other rather a lot.

He was reasonably bright and was a reasonable duellist, although we did have a rather strong rivalry, ever since I had answered that question in Duelling Philosophy a few days ago that had had him stumped, since then we had been going at each other head to head, but neither of us took it too seriously, and when he offered to partner up with Max was mildly surprised at him, he'd thought he would have asked that girl who was a few doors down, but then again, maybe she turned him down.

He came over and sat down next to me, his black hair was arranged so that it looked like he had just got out of bed, his uniform was creased in places and he looked reasonably hyper, but besides all that he looked up for a tournament, he grinned cheekily,

"So … did you managed to get your old deck back in time for the tournament" he asked, his face eager

"No, Sheppard's ill remember, and I sincerely doubt in Crowler going to let me within a thousand yards of his office without a descent excuse"

"Awww. Man, I really wanted to see those beasts in action" he sounded annoyed

"Me too Alex, me too" Max said, sounding really depressed.

"Oh well, the tournament's starting in the next 15 minutes or so, you still up for it?" he asked, worry flickered across his face as he realised what would happen if I wasn't up for it

"You, kidding me, I'm always up for a duel, especially when there's some prizes on the line"

"Well then what are we waiting for, lets go!" he got up and started moving towards the door, "Oh, and the last one there is a mouldy kuriboh" he said and quickly dashed out of the door.

"Hey no fair you got a head-start" Max shouted chasing after him

As the two friends chased each other over to the card shop in the failing light, a small boat pulled in at the docks on this foggy evening, the captain glanced at his lone passenger, he had been told not to ask any questions, and he had been paid in advance, he grunted as he pulled the lever and the ramp lowered, landing with a sharp, CLANG! on the quayside,

"Alright Mr. this is your stop" he said in a deep, gruff voice, gesturing toward the ramp,

"Thank you" the stranger's voice was light, almost girlish

"Your welcome" the captain said abruptly, pulling the lever quickly as the stranger stepped off onto the quayside.

As the boat faded away into the fog, the stranger laughed, it sounded like crushed glass being dragged across a window. "Well, Well, Well it seems Duel Academy hasn't changed in all these years, now to business" he said in a quiet, malicious voice as he strode away in the general direction of the main school.

---------- Back at the Tournament ----------

"Ladies and Gent's welcome to the 64th Duel Academy Card Shop Tournament, ad what I show we have up for you tonight, with over 20 pairs of student signed up and ready to duel." The announcer shouted into his microphone above the general chatter, immediate silence followed his talking, no one wanted to miss what he was going to say,

"Now then, each pair of duellist has being assigned a card with a number, and beside that number will be the list of duel podiums you'll be playing in," the announcer gestured to the 2 rows of duelling platforms, a dozen in each row.

"After your first duel has been completed, move onto the next podium, and so on, if the duellist have not finished, then please be patient and wait until they have finished. Thank You, |Good Luck and …" he paused

"**Lets Duel**" the response from the crowd was deafening

Then the various pairs began filtering off to their podiums to wait for the opposition, Max managed to find Alex in the crowd,

"Which Podium are we at?" he asked

"Oh, were at number 11"

"Ok then, we'd better get moving, or were not going to make it in time"

"Uhhh... Well I was kind of hoping", Alex glanced away and Max followed Alex's gaze, and then he knew why he hadn't been able to find him, he punched Alex shoulder lightly

"You can play with your _girlfriend_ later"

Alex head-locked him, "_Girlfriend_, I'll show you girlfriend, you Imbecile"

Max broke out of headlock and straightened his hair,

"Come on, were going to be late"

"Ok lets go."

They pushed and squeezed their way through the crowd, counting off the numbers of the podium,

"9… 10… 11, here we are"

They both climbed the steps and took up their positions, and waited, until their opponents arrived.

After about 3 minutes, they arrived, a Slifer and a Ra appeared, both girls, appeared,

"Heya boy's, are you ready to Duel?" the Ra asked

"Sure" we both replied

"Then let's get started shall we" Alex said

"**Let's Duel**" we shouted in unison as our Duel-Disk Activated,

Team 1: 4000 – 40000

Team 2: 4000 - 4000


End file.
